Monday, 29 April 2013

This is an April Blog Challenge. Normal blog posts will resume in May.

So much more than moons and Junes

Today it's the penultimate list of songs and they begin with Y

And here are my penultimate lyric snippets!

1960s:You'll Never Walk Alone - Gerry and the Pacemakers

1970s:You're So Vain - Carly Simon

1980s:Your Love is King - Sade [...round and round and round my head, touching the very part of me...]

1990s:You're Still the One - Shania Twain [Looks like we've made it. Look how far we've come now baby...]

You'll Never Walk Alone

Rogers and Hammerstein wrote this beautiful song for the stage show, Carousel. I think it's a shame that the football crowds have adopted it because it has a special place in my heart that has nothing to do with football. You may have read my F post where I talked about agoraphobia and holding a song in my head to help me through difficult times. This song was another of those.

'When you walk through a stormHold your head up highAnd don't be afraid of the dark...'It didn't save my sanity quite as much as 'For Once in My Life' did but I used to play the Gerry and the Pacemakers' version in my bedroom over and over again and try to get inspiration from the words.

'...walk on, walk on, with hope in your heartAnd you'll never walk alone...'
The mantra is almost one of religious faith.

What does this song say to you?

You're So Vain

Carly Simon wrote this song but never revealed who it was about. Some think it was Warren Beatty but it could just as easily have been Mick Jagger or Kris Kristofferson.

'You walked into the party like you were walking onto a yachtYour hat strategically dipped below one eyeYour scarf it was apricot......You're so vain you probably think this song is about you...'

I suppose it could work just as well about a woman although I love the thought that she was having a pop at Mick Jagger. [Did I ever mention that I once chased Mick Jagger across a car park and he'd shouted, "Get off!" and hit me across the face. *swoon*]

Is there someone you know who could fit into this category?

Lots of Y songs I could have used. Which ones are missing here for you?

Yes, I know the X is in the middle but... *sigh* it's been a long month! Sting is said to have written this song when the band were staying in a seedy Paris Hotel where prostitutes were 'walking the streets'.

'...you don't have to put on the red lightThose days are overYou don't have to sell your body to the night...'

It's a sad truth that there is a lot of prostitution in most UK cities. I suspect it's the same the world over. To me it seems wrong in every way.

Do you agree that while men are paying for sex we'll never have full emancipation for women?

Xanadu

The lyrics to this song from the film of the same name are decidedly moons and Junes so I thought I'd just say that Xanadu, the Kubla Khan's summer palace, is mentioned in Coleridge's poem, Kubla Kahn and it's given a surreal, almost Garden of Eden, or paradise quality.

There's no way I missed an X song, is there? This was a really difficult letter!

Friday, 26 April 2013

This is an April Blog Challenge. Normal blog posts will resume in May.

So much more than moons and Junes

Today's songs begin with W

Plus some lyric snippets to set you thinking and commenting!

1960s:Walk On By - Dionne Warwick [If you see me walking down the street and I start to cry each time we meet, walk on by...]

1970s:We Are The Champions - Queen

1980s:Woman In Love - Barbra Streisand [Life is a moment in space, when the dream is gone it's a lonelier place...]

1990s:Wind Of Change - Scorpions

We Are The Champions

Freddie Mercury wrote this classic anthem tune, guaranteed to get a crowd singing and swaying together.

'We are the champions, my friendAnd we'll keep on fighting til the end...'

Mercury knew how to rouse a crowd. What a loss he is to the music scene.

What's your favourite anthem tune?

Wind of Change

This song was written by Klause Meine to celebrate the end of the Cold War with Russia. The video shows the fall of the Berlin Wall. How sad that families had been separated by that wall for so long.

'I follow the MoskvaDown to Gorky Park Listening to the wind of change...''...Did you ever thinkThat we could be so close, like brothers.The future's in the air...'

The Moskva is the river that runs through Moscow and Gorky Park is an amusement park there. I'm starting to (inevitably) get repetitive here but I don't understand why we have to have wars, be they hot or cold and as soon as one area of friction is soothed another flares.

I'm afraid it doesn't mean a lot to me but whenever I hear this song I think of 1960s foreign holidays, the first package holidays, Brits abroad, shouting loudly and slowly if no one could understand you. I went to Benidorm in the days before it was full of high rise hotels. The good old days!

What song reminds you of your first holiday abroad?

Vincent

Don McLean wrote this as a tribute to Vincent Van Gogh and the tragedy of an artist who lived through depressive torments while his talent went unrecognised until after his death.

'Starry, starry nightPaint your palette blue and greyLook out on a summer's dayWith eyes that know the darkness in my soul...'

Starry night is about his painting of the same name and looking out on a summer's day refers to his time in a mental asylum.

I suspect that few people get through their lives without some kind of mental illness but very few people talk about it. It's as if it's something to be ashamed of but it's an illness like any other.

Why does mental illness still have such a stigma attached to it?

The V songs were yet another difficult batch to search for. Have I missed any obvious ones?

Wednesday, 24 April 2013

This is an April Blog Challenge. Normal blog posts will resume in May.

So much more than moons and Junes

Today its songs beginning with U

And lyric snippets

1960s:Up on the Roof - Kenny Linch

1970s:Under the Moon of Love - Shawaddywaddy [Let's go for a little walk, under the moon of love...]

1980s:Up Where We Belong - Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes

1990s:Unbreak My Heart - Toni Braxton [...undo this hurt that you caused, when you walked out the door, and walked out of my life, un-cry these tears...]

Up on the Roof

This is a Goffin and King song recorded by many people. Kenny Lynch's version is my favourite.

'...when I come home feeling tired and beatI go up where the air is fresh and sweet - up on the roofI get away from the hustling crowd And all that rat-race noise down in the street - up on the roof...'

I'm not suggesting that anyone goes climbing onto their roof, espcially if it has a steep pitch! You could insert the words 'down the end of the garden' but that wouldn't scan so well. In the summer I get away from the rat-race by sitting on my swing seat in the garden.

Where do you go to shake off that rat-race feeling?

Up Where We Belong

From the film An Officer and a Gentleman this song, written by Jack Nitzsche, Buffy Sainte-Marie and Will Jennings, won a number of awards.

'...Who knows what tomorrow bringsIn a world few hearts survive...

...The road is longThere are mountains in the wayBut we climb a step every day...'

Some of those mountains are pretty huge, aren't they?

And I could have added:

Showaddywaddy are from my home city of Leicester UK. Just saying.

AND
The video from Unbreak My Heart were she sees her boyfriend die in a motorbike accident is so sad and you can't unbreak hearts, or uncry tears.

Tuesday, 23 April 2013

This is an April Blog Challenge. Normal blog posts will resume in May.

So much more than moons and Junes

We've reached songs beginning with T

And more lyric snippets!

1960s:Tracks Of My Tears - Smokey Robinson and the Miracles [People say I'm the life of the party, cause I tell a joke or two...]

1970s:Theme From Mahogany - Diana Ross

1980s:That's What Friends Are For - Dionne Warwick

1990s:Truly Madly Deeply - Savage Garden [...I want to stand with you on a mountain, I want to bathe with you in the sea...]

Theme From Mahogany

This song, written by Masser and Goffin, is from the film Mahogany. The opening lines have always struck a chord with me.

'Do you know where you're going to?Do you like the things that life is showing you?'

There have been times in my life when I haven't really known where I was going to and I didn't much like the things that life was showing me.

How about you?

That's What Friends Are For

This song was originally written by Burt Bacharach and Carol Bayer Sager for the film Night Shift. It was rerecorded in 1986 to raise money for research into Aids. Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight, Elton John and Stevie Wonder sung it. My favourite singers all in one YouTube clip which I've attached here. I've watched this clip more times than I will admit to. [There should be a YouTube clip next. Apologies if it doesn't show.]

'...if I should ever go awayWell then close your eyes and tryTo feel the way we do todayAnd then if you can rememberKeep smiling, keep shining...'

A lot of people lost a lot of friends to Aids, especially during the 1980s when people were unaware of the risks. The Elton John Aids Foundation is continuing to raise money for research into Aids.

Monday, 22 April 2013

This is an April Blog Challenge. Normal blog posts will resume in May.So much more than moons and Junes

Song beginning with S

And lyric snippets

1960s:Sounds of Silence - Simon and Garfunkel

1970s:Summer Breeze - The Isley Brothers

1980s:Stepping Out - Joe Jackson [...we are younger getting old before our time, we'll leave the TV and the radio behind...]

1990s:Stay Another Day - East 17 [Baby if you've got to go away, I don't think I can take the pain...]

Sound/s of Silence

This song was originally called Sounds of Silence but Simon and Garfunkel dropped the plural in later recordings. Paul Simon said that he often shut himself in his echoey bathroom, turned out the lights and played his guitar. This was how he got much of his inspiration hence...

'Hello darkness, my old friendI've come to talk with you again...'

Do you find that you do your best thinking when you're alone in the dark?

Summer Breeze

This song doesn't quite fit in with a lot of my other choices but it has such a positive effect on me that I decided to include it.

Sunday, 21 April 2013

1980s:Romeo and Juliet - Dire Straits [...Juliet the dice were loaded from the start, and I bet and you exploded in my heart...]

1990s:Reason to Believe - Rod Stewart [If I listened long enough to you, I'd find a way to believe that it's all true...]

Reach Out, I'll Be There

This was one of the many Motown songs written by Holland/Dozier/Holland. I have this track on an old-fashioned vinyl LP and, what's more, it's in mono!

'...if you feel that you can't go onBecause all of your hope is goneAnd your life is filled with much confusionUntil happiness is just an ilusion...'

'...Reach out for meI'll be there...'

A real friend is always there for you.

How do you define a true friend?

Rocky Mountain High

John Denver was passionate about Colorado and the wide open spaces that he made his home.

'...He walks in quiet solitude the forest and the streamsSeeking grace in every step he takes...'

'...his life is full of wonder but his heart still knows some fearOf a simple thing he cannot comprehend.Why they try to tear the mountains down to bring in a couple moreMore people, more scars upon the land.Colorado Rocky Mountain high...'

John Denver was concerned that the Colorado Mountains were being spoilt by the increase in tourism. In the UK the same concerns have been expressed about the Lake District.Should we be allowed to walk wherever we please in our own countryside or should access be restricted to preserve areas of beauty?

I know there are lots of R songs that I could have included. Any favourites?

1990s:Promise Me - Beverley Craven [You light up another cigarette and I pour the wine...]

People

This song was written by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill for the musical Funny Girl but I'm not entirely sure if I agree with these lyrics.

'...people who need peopleAre the luckiest people in the world...'

My experience of people who always need people around them is that they don't particularly like themselves. It's good to enjoy the company of others but it's also good to be able to get on with yourself.

Do you prefer to be with lots of people or do you enjoy your own company too?

And I could have added:

Physical was released at a time when there was a massive rise in the popularity of keep fit, especially aerobics with stars like Jane Fonda promoting its virtues and producing videos for us to do at home. The words to the song are a little 'racier' but the message on Olivia Newton John's video was to keep fit.

I remember going with my friend to just about every type of fitness class we could find. We tried Yoga, dancing with ribbons, Chinese wand, you name it, we did it!

Wednesday, 17 April 2013

Today it's songs beginning with O and a more serious topic just for this one post. As I've said every day this month, some songs are about more than moons and Junes and this is especially true of today's 1990 song which raised money for a charity that's very close to our family's hearts.

1970s:Only Yesterday - The Carpenters [After long enough of being alone, everyone must face their share of loneliness...]

1980s:One Of Us - Abba [...one of us is crying, one of us is lying, in her lonely bed...]

1990s:One Heart at a Time - Garth Brooks

One Heart at a Time

I'm not quoting lyrics for this song. It's all about the cause and it's one that has sadly touched our family. Garth Brooks was part of a team who wrote and sung One Heart at a Time to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

Cystic Fibrosis is an inherited disease which mainly affects the breathing. The body is unable to eliminate mucus in the lungs and so sufferers are continually susceptible to lung infections and have to endure daily physio to clear the lungs and medications to help the body digest food and to prevent infections. Because of problems with digesting food some sufferers struggle with mal-nourishment and are physically small for their age.

When I first met my husband his son was eighteen and had a severe form of Cystic Fibrosis. His health was rapildy deteriorating and three years later, in 1989, he had a heart lung transplant. This process was still experimental but his lungs were so badly damaged that he had no other choice. Sadly he died a week later. He was a warm, friendly boy and the abiding memory I have of him is his laughter.

As I said, he had a severe form of CF. Some people manage to live with it. My very good Blogger friend, Anne Mackle, lives a full and active life with CF. Do pop over and visit her at Is Anyone There. She's doing the A to Z too.

When will they discover cures for these and so many other crippling illnesses?

This Denny Randell and Sandy Linzer song has a real 'feal-good factor' to it but then you listen to the lyrics.

'...where did all those yesterdays goWhen you still believed love could really be like a Broadway show...'

At what age do you think you stopped believing that love could really be like a Broadway show? Or maybe for you it's true!

Nikita

This song is written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin about the Cold War and a fictitious female Soviet border guard.

'...And if there comes a timeGuns and gates no longer hold you inAnd if you're free to make a choiceJust look towards the West and find a friend...'

It was written before the fall of the Berlin Wall and the 'warming up' of relations between East and West. How sad that the families in Berlin were split apart by the Wall. How great that the wall no longer exists.

How many more families have to be affected by war, be it a hot or a cold war?

And I could have added:

Sinead's tear in the video of Nothing Compares 2 U was so moving. She says it was unplanned and I believe her.

It might be a long time ago for me, but I can still remember that lost teenage emotion and the potential aimlessness of life, even though people genuinely did tell me that my school days were the best days of my life. I don't think they were. Too often they were confusing and scary.

Were your teenage years 'the best years of your life'?

My Heart Will Go On

This could be a 'moons and Junes' alert but there's something special inside these lyrics for me. The music was written by James Horner for the film, Titanic and Will Jennings wrote the lyrics.

'...Near, far, wherever you areI believe that the heart does go onOnce more you open the doorAnd you're here in my heart...'

I believe that we can communicate with people who we're emotionally close to, even though they may be far away. I know that scientists dismiss ESP (extra-sensory perception) as bunkum but it's not. I've had personal experiences that have shown me that it's not.

Have you ever had an experience that makes you think that ESP is real?

And I could have added:

In My Generation we all thrilled at Roger Daltry daring to sing about adults, '...why don't you all f-f-fade away...' We thought we were about to hear that 'f word' which, in the 60s, had never, to my knowledge, been heard on the TV or radio.

1990s:Livin La Vida Loca - Ricky Martin (Yes, I know this challenge is supposed to be about the lyrics but Daughter insisted I included this song. What she actually said was, "When you've got a butt like Ricky Martin's who needs good lyrics?!")

Like a Rolling Stone

Dylan wrote about a rich girl who has fallen on hard times but this could apply to anyone who has lost everything, including who they feel that they are... their identity.

'...How does it feelTo be without a homeLike a complete unknownLike a rolling stone...'

I can't imagine what it would be like to not even have an address to your name. We live in a very cruel world and the next song continues this theme...

Livin' On a Prayer

Written by Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora it tells of a similar heartache...

'...Tommy used to work on the docksUnion's been on strikeHe's down on his luck, it's tough, so tough...'

I can't imagine, and hope I'll never know, what it's like to live with no money coming in.

How do people survive when life knocks them right down into the gutter?

Loving You

This is a beautiful song that verges on the moons and Junes but I'm mentioning it anyway because for me these words are very special and pure poetry...

'...No one else can make me feelThe colours that you bring...'

I just know you're going to list out loads of L songs. I was spoilt for choice with this one.

Wednesday, 10 April 2013

A lyric snippet from two of the songs plus a special thanks to Daughter.

1960s:In the Ghetto - Elvis Presley[...on a cold and grey Chicago morn, a poor little baby child is born, in the ghetto...]

1970s:Imagine - John Lennon

1980s:If You Don't Know Me By Now - Simply Red [All the things that we've been through, you should understand me like I understand you...]

1990s:I Will Always Love You - Whitney Houston

Imagine

This was Lennon's best selling single of his solo career and it's not hard to see why.

'...Imagine no possessionsI wonder if you can.No need for greed or hungerA brotherhood of manImagine all the peopleSharing all the world...'

He continues with the line '...You may say I'm a dreamer...' and, sadly, I suppose he's right. This is nothing but a dream.

This could never come true... could it?

I Will Always Love You

Dolly Parton really knows how to pack a punch with her song lyrics! These words are exactly what a mother wishes for her children.

'...I hope life treats you kindAnd I hope you have all you've dreamed ofAnd I wish you joy and happiness...'

What more can a mother ask for? It's certainly what I wish for mine... with all my heart.

Which reminds me, before I ask you for more I songs, I want to give aspecial thanks to Daughter for helping me with some of the song choices. Well you didn't think I worked out the 1990s all on my own, did you?!

The title of this Bobby Scott/Bob Russell song says it all but for good measure I'll add...

'...It's a long, long road From which there is no returnWhile we're on the way to thereWhy not share...'

Life may not always be long but it is hard and there is no return so we may as well help each other if we can.

Do you view life as a long, long road?

Heal the World

I used this Michael Jackson song for one of my very last class assemblies. It made an excellent basis for a cross-curricular project (in the days when cross-curricular was allowed) and the kids loved it because it was Michael Jackson.

'...Heal the worldMake it a better placeFor you and for me And the entire human race...'

We looked at recycling, protecting nature, planting wild meadows, global warming, caring for each other. Every time I hear it I think of another area that we could have covered if we'd had time. For me it was a perfect assembly song. I only regret that such a talented man came to such a sad end.

Why is it that the most talented writers and poets often experience such tortured lives?And I could have added:

I believe it was 'the thing' to make fun of that video clip where Lionel Richie sang '...hello, is it me you're looking for...' but I adore the song and I loved the video. Just saying!

If you have a favourite song beginning with H that I missed out then let me know.

Monday, 8 April 2013

1960s:Groovin' - The Young Rascals [Groovin' on a Sunday afternoon, really couldn't get away too soon...]

1970s:The Gambler - Kenny Rogers

1980s:Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper

1990s:Gangsta's Paradise - Coolio and LV [...been spending most their lives, living in the gangsta's paradise...]

The Gambler

I love the way that Don Schlitz uses poker playing as a metaphor for life.

'...You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em...'
If your hand isn't worth bidding on then you throw the cards in and let the others play. In life if you're fighting a losing battle then you've got to recognise you're wasting your time and move on.'...Know when to walk away and know when to run...'

People get pretty agitated when they play cards and I suppose, in those circles where guns are freely available, you need to run if you've upset the wrong person. It's the same with life. You can have a go at your co-worker but if you upset the big boss you'd better keep your head down for a while.

'...every gambler knows that the secret to survivin'is knowing what to throw away, knowing what to keepCause every hand's a winner, and every hand's a loser...'
If you take two people and give them the same opportunities, one will make it good and the other won't. It's what you do with those cards in poker and with those chances in life that counts.Do you agree with this interpretation of the words?[I feel obliged to add that I'm a pretty average Bridge player and I suspect the same can be said of the way I play at life!]

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

How many of us, as teenagers, had rows with our parents because we wanted to stay out later than they thought we should?

...I come home in the morning light, my mother says"When you gonna live your life right?"...How many of us have had or are having rows with our teenage children because they want to stay out later than we think they should?

Rosalind Adam

I am a writer, committed worrier and nostalgia obsessive with a fascination for all things historical. I am currently enjoying a return to education, studying for an MA in Creative Writing at Leicester University. Please scroll down to see my books...

The Children's Book of Richard III

This is my latest book, illustrated by Alice Povey. Click on the picture to buy a copy or go to Amazon.

Children's History of Leicester

A Children's History of Leicester published by Hometown World Publishers, 2011

Bathtime Rap

Bathtime Rap is a fun children's picture book published by Franklin Watts, 2008.

Heritage Funded Projects

I was lead facilitator on the following two Heritage Lottery funded projects:

Leicester Jewish Voices

In 2009 I coordinated a memories project looking at the Leicester Jewish Community during the 1950s and 60s. You can see the website by clicking on the picture.

Local Cemetery Project

I coordinated the cataloguing of the Jewish section of Leicester Gilroes to provide a genealogical search facility. Subsequent research of a number of the headstones enabled us to record 'The Lives Behind the Stones'. 2014/15